The Baroque Era - England - 3

An epoch-making event was the introduction, in around 1680, of the cabriole leg or goats leg from France. This outwardly curved style, which first appeared on chairs and later on tables, was to being about a revolution in handmade furniture. As a result the basic wood of English choice was to change, for curves and flowing lines demanded a softer wood than oak.
The age was fast approaching when the sturdy oak of England had to give way to walnut. The new age was ushered in towards the close on the 17th century. It was developed under William and Mary and was in full flower by the reign of Queen Anne.

It was inevitable that Dutch influence should predominate during the reign of William of Orange and his wife at the end of the century. It is arguable that Holland was equally as responsible as France for England's introduction to the cabriole leg. Certainly Dutch influence led to the adoption about 1700 of the claw and ball foot style of carving, which became the characteristic terminal feature of the cabriole legs of chairs and tables throughout the 18th century. The Dutch had imported this style, which was based on the symbol of a dragon's claw holding a pearl, from China.

Yet another Dutch legacy was the custom of collecting china jars, bowls and dishes, which led to the introduction of display cabinets in the reign of William and Mary.
From Holland came the fashion for marquetry, an art raised to the highest levels by the Dutch cabinet-makers of the 18th century. The taste for long case clocks also owes much to the stimulus given by William's countrymen.

The development of fitted and non fitted furniture from the reign of James I to the end of the 17th century is best traced through its component types. Early Stuart chairs, still oak, were assuming more comfortable proportions, with lightly padded seats, small black panels and often plain legs.
Stretchers were gradually being placed higher above floor level. The armless farthingale chair was so names because if offered a lady the opportunity to spread out and show off the dress of that name. The X-frame chair was given a new lease of life in a more richly upholstered form, which made the best use of existing talents in the embroidery of damask, velvet and brocade.

After the dog days of the commonwealth, Restoration furniture and reproduction furniture moved into new areas, with walnut and beech sometimes replacing the traditional oak. Upholstery became more common. Tall backs, in the Dutch style, acquired attractive panels of cane, which was also used extensively in seats.
The front stretcher, now abandoning completely its earlier function as a foot rest, became the vehicle for elaborate carving, an important decorative feature of the finished chair. Arms, on those chairs which possessed them, often ended in a downward scroll. Carving generally became open - pierced instead of the solid form of the previous century. Settees to seat two and three people, with cane or open splat backs gained favour in the last quarter of the century .

Under William and Mary, some of the more elaborate carving of Charles II's day was abandoned. Uprights of slender dimensions succeeded spiral turnings and backs assumed a narrower, more perpendicular appearance with finer cane panelling which often occupied the entire back section between the uprights.
The fashion for matching stools to accompany upholstered chairs allowed for much play with embroidery  sometimes fringed. By the end of the century, walnut chairs which combined comfort with decorative attractions were foreshadowing the curvilinear styles of Queen Anne's reign.