18th century furniture - Early George III

George III came to the throne in 1760 and British handmade furniture making reached its zenith during his 51 year reign. British design was highly influential, owing to the publications of key designers whose names have become synonymous with Georgian furniture.
The key style of the period was Neoclassical, which was largely introduced to Britain by James Stuart and Robert Adams in the 1760s. Thomas Chippendale also played a role in the development of the movement, and worked alongside Robert Adam on a number of occasions. The designers George Hepplewhite, who published his cabinet-maker and upholsterer's guide in 1788 and Thomas Sheraton, whose cabinet-maker and upholsterer's drawing book came out between 1791 and 1794, are also strongly associated with the style and helped to spread the Neoclassical ideal.
Important furniture-makers included Gillows of Lancaster, Ince and Mayhew, George Seddon, and John Linnell.

Adopting A New Style
By around 1765, the Rococo style was waning, and its typical decorative details, such as carved foliage can C-scrolls, had become passe. The main change ushered in by the Neoclassical movement with the introduction of symmetrical designs. New decorations made use of Classical ornaments such as urns, rosettes, swags of husks, and bellflowers. Other popular motifs included vases, Greek keys, laurel wreaths, palmettes, sphinxes, anthemion, and guilloche.
At first, Neoclassical decoration was applied to existing Rococo furniture shapes. However, these soon began to show the influence of Neoclassicalism, and became more refined and rectilinear in shape, with symmetrical lines and fewer curves.

Decorative Features
The way in which furniture was decorated also changed. Carved decoration was pronounced at first, but as the century progressed it became shallower, and was finally replaced by inlaid woods in imitation of earlier carved decoration. These inlays were made from a greater variety of woods than previously, including satinwood, tulipwood, and rosewood.
By 1780, carving on case furniture or tables was reduced to a minimum. The grain of the timber or inlay became more important.
Painting was also a popular decorative technique, and was another way in which Neoclassical designs and motifs could be incorporated into pieces of furniture, now in reproduction furniture.

Furniture Types
Linen chests of clothes presses remained popular, as did mahogany chests of drawers. Neoclassical styling sometimes appeared as canted corners of carved, fluted corner columns.
Large dining tables were made from around 1770 onwards. The most formal tables had rounded ends with centre sections and gatelegs. Additional leaves were made to fit in between. Gateleg tables were sometimes placed side by side to be used as dining tables well into the 1790s. Towards the end of the 18th century, long pedestal dining tables were introduced. These always had extra leaves that could be inserted to extend them. The pedestal form also became popular for a variety of other types of table, including drum, breakfast, and centre tables - all forms of non fitted furniture.