The Baroque Era - England - Part 6

Queen Anne was the last of the Stuart monarchs, reigning from 1702 until 1714. Even though her line had suffered more than its share of misfortunes, the Stuarts' legacy to England was not inconsiderable. At home, their reigns had been marked by growing toleration for nonconformists and the arts, sciences and literature had prospered. Milton had written 'Paradise Lost' and Bunyan 'Pilgrims Progress'.
Abroad, there had been significant progress to new paradises. England, competing with Holland and France, had staked rich claims; the trading stations of the East India Company had been established, the American colonies were set up and Gibraltar and Minorca had been placed under the flag. Increased power and prestige in Europe led to a fervent British nationalism. Its effects were clearly seen in handmade furniture development under Queen Anne, her name being used in furniture annals to describe her own reign and also the early Georgian period until about 1730.

Walnut, of course, reigned supreme. Although widely used in Italy, Spain, France, Flanders, the Low Countries and South Germany during the Renaissance movements, it had found only minor acceptance in England until the Restoration. Once regarded as a luxury wood for the wealthy, it was in general use by Anne's day.
It has strength without excessive weight, cuts and carves well and takes a high polish. Both as a solid and as a veneer it has variety of colour, texture and configuration, producing interesting patterns.

Europe first used its own species, 'fuglans regia', which is pale brown in colour with brown and black veinings. Grown in large quantities on the eastern seaboard of America, and eventually imported into Europe as the walnut age flowered, was the species 'fuglans nigra' - black walnut, having a darker brown colour, with even darker markings - a beautiful wood much favoured by cabinet-makers.
England relied on Continental imports to supplement the production of its own walnut plantations, but the severe winter of 1709 killed many trees in central Europe and in 1720 France forbade any export of walnut.

These setbacks encouraged the trade with Virginia and may well have speeded the progression towards mahogany.
Walnut was a wood ideally suited to the gracious curves of Anne's time epitomized by the cabriole leg. The curving line was echoed in the swan's neck shaping of the chair back around splats which were frequently vase-shaped. The era was marked by a general move towards comfort. There was elegance of an inornate quality, without severity; dignity and balanced proportion graced a period which lasted the better part of half a century. Above all, English fitted and non fitted furniture developed an insularity that almost consciously rejected the styles and movements of France and other continental countries.
The European influences which had prospered under the patronage of Charles II and William and Mary were being systematically anglicized by a new generation of native craftsmen who were now specialists in their own right.