furniture

Table of Contents

Introduction
General considerations
- Materials
  - Wood
  - Metal
  - Other materials
- Stylistic and decorative processes and techniques
  - Constructional style and stylization
  - Decorative processes and techniques
    - Carving
    - Turned work
    - Inlay and marquetry
    - Upholstery and covers
  - Imagery and ornamentation
- Kinds of furniture
  - Chair
    - Egypt
    - Greece and Rome
    - China
    - Spain: 17th century
    - The Netherlands: 17th century
    - France and England: 17th and 18th centuries
    - Late 18th to 20th century
    - Modern
  - Table
    - Fixed and mechanical tables
    - Historical forms and styles
  - Bed
  - Storage furniture
    - Chest
    - Cupboard
    - Bookcases
    - Mixed forms
  - Kitchen furniture and furnishings
  - Bathroom furniture and fixtures
  - Specialized furniture
- Kinds of accessory furnishings
  - Clocks
  - Mirrors
  - Fabrics
  - Fireplaces
  - Other accessory furnishings
History
- Egypt
- Mesopotamia
- Greece
- Rome
- Middle Ages
  - Early Middle Ages
  - Later Middle Ages
- The Renaissance
  - Italy
  - France
  - Spain
  - Low Countries
  - England
- 17th century: the Baroque style
  - Flanders and the Netherlands
  - Italy
  - France
  - England
  - The American colonies
- 18th century: the Rococo style
  - France
  - England
  - The American colonies
- 18th century: the Neoclassical style
  - France
  - England
  - The United States
- 19th century
- Modern
  - Functionalist modern
  - Transitional modern
  - Commercial modern
- China
- Japan
- India

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

mahogany card table

walnut armchair

Moon-viewing chair

reproduction of early 18th-century chintz bedspread and hangings

Renaissance cassone

early Neoclassical dining room

horseshoe armchair

Figure 73: Art Nouveau painted oak cabinet with coloured glass by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 1902.

Figure 68: One of a pair of Baroque cabinets inlaid with pietra dura made for Louis XIV by the Italian furniture maker and sculptor, Domenico Cucci, at the Gobelins factory, France, 1681--83.

For Students

French 18th-century dressing and writing table by Jean-François Oeben or Jean-François Leleu; in the Wallace Collection, London.

furniture summary

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furniture: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	furnishings

Photos

mahogany card table

walnut armchair

Moon-viewing chair

reproduction of early 18th-century chintz bedspread and hangings

Renaissance cassone

early Neoclassical dining room

horseshoe armchair

Figure 73: Art Nouveau painted oak cabinet with coloured glass by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 1902.

Figure 68: One of a pair of Baroque cabinets inlaid with pietra dura made for Louis XIV by the Italian furniture maker and sculptor, Domenico Cucci, at the Gobelins factory, France, 1681--83.

See All Images →

Topics

candlestick chair bed table Chippendale Early American furniture corner furniture Mission style Shaker furniture tripod dress glassware floor covering security and protection system toy wallpaper molding curtain public utility paneling

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Key People

Robert Adam, oil painting by an unknown artist; in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Robert Adam

Scottish architect

William Morris

British artist and author

Eero Saarinen in a womb chair

Eero Saarinen

American architect

Alvar Aalto.

Alvar Aalto

Finnish architect

Charlotte Perriand: 1928 dining room

Charlotte Perriand

French designer

Frank Gehry: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao

Frank Gehry

Canadian American architect

Chippendale, Thomas: drawing of a combined desk and bookcase

Thomas Chippendale

British cabinetmaker

Terence Conran

Terence Conran

British designer and entrepreneur

Vase with relief decoration by Émile Gallé, c. 1895; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Émile Gallé

French glass designer

Design for a library table by Thomas Sheraton, engraving from his book, The Cabinet-Maker, Upholsterer and General Artist's Encyclopaedia (1805)

Thomas Sheraton

English furniture designer

Andrée Putman

French designer

David Roentgen

European cabinetmaker

Cartel clock with Louis XIV clockcase by Charles Cressent; in the Wallace Collection, London

Charles Cressent

French cabinetmaker

Phyfe, Duncan: card table

Duncan Phyfe

American furniture designer

Ingvar Kamprad

Ingvar Kamprad

Swedish businessman

Marcel Breuer

Hungarian architect

Thonet, Michael: bentwood chair

Michael Thonet

Austrian furniture maker

Design for a sofa by George Hepplewhite, engraving from his book, The Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer's Guide (1788).

George Hepplewhite

British cabinetmaker

Gustav Stickley

American designer

Paulo Mendes da Rocha

Brazilian architect