The Baroque Era - England

The reign of the unlucky Stuarts, which began in 1603 with the accession of James I, saw much refinement in English handmade furniture styles. The course of politics and international and national events, as well as foreign religious intolerance and natural and man-provoked disasters all had their influence on art and design in 17th century England. The effects of certain traumatic happenings were obvious and immediate.

The great plague - which in London reached its peak in 1665 - covered Europe with a darkness unknown since the Middle Ages. When the cloud was lifted, a universal reaction showed itself in a spontaneous plunge into gaiety, extravagance and escapism. It was reflected in clothing fashion, living styles, and not least, fitted and non fitted furniture. Shortly after the plague, an event occurred in England which produced a watershed in furniture history.

 

In 1666 the Great Fire of London, although a fearful disaster to those involved, was responsible for long-term beneficial effects. The holocaust destroyed 89 churches and around 13,000 homes. Much of the superb artistry of Inigo Jones was lost. As surveyor or works to Charles I, he had influenced furniture and interior decoration through his love of Italian Classicism and the result had been a chaster style, thrusting out the decorative excesses of the late Elizabethan period. After the fire, many city churches were rebuilt under the genius of Sir Christopher Wren; the London renaissance was responsible for the building of St Paul's Cathedral, as well as many other buildings.

 

A new London grew up on the site of the fire, which, undeniably, had disposed of many rat-infested, disease ridden slums. To a large extent, English furniture faced a rebirth, and the reason for this was simple: London represented the heartland of the country's furniture inventiveness and production; it housed much of the entire stock of the nation's fine furniture and reproduction furniture, no other centre even approaching the capital's importance in this respect. With the destruction of so many homes and the furniture they contained, the fire gave  great impetus to new styles in the escapist aftermath of the plague.

Other people's misfortunes on the continent of Europe had similarly beneficial affects on art and design in 17th century England. A typical example came in 1685 when Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes, which had given Protestants some degree of protection against religious persecution. The event drove thousands of French weavers, cabinet-makers and glass-workers to exile in Holland and England. Silk workers who settled in Spitalfields, London, built a silk and brocade-making industry which enriched the trend in furniture upholstery. Wren eagerly employed the talents of French craftsmen to produce crystal glass chandeliers in palace settings that were to rival the luxuries of versailles.