Antique furniture styles are often named after whoever ruled the realm during the era of their creation. Queen Anne and Victorian antiques are perfect examples. The artistic influence of the “Queen Anne” style flourished in Europe from the 1720s until around 1760, interestingly enough, even though the queen’s rule ended with her passing in 1714. Queen Victoria ruled England from 1837-1901, so Victorian antiques are newer.
Queen Anne style is all about refinement and elegance, whereas Victorian style is known for its modesty, privacy, and orderliness. Victorian design has been accused of employing excessive ornamentation at times. In popular opinion of the Victorian era, heavy ornamentation was important to a well-designed space, so a bare room was considered a faux pa. For this reason, Victorian rooms required many spaces, shelves, and cabinets for objets d’art and knickknacks.
Honey Oak Queen Anne Coffee Table Set
Cabriole legs and pad feet became popular during the Queen Anne era. A cabriole leg is a support leg for furniture that features two opposing curves that mimic an animal’s leg (i.e. S-shaped). Many Victorian pieces resisted this trend and chose to feature round legs, elaborately-turned legs, and restrained cabriole legs, sometimes with no feet whatsoever.
Since the end of the Queen Anne period, woodworkers have reproduced its style. Some reproductions are old enough to be antiques themselves. Elements of Queen Anne design can still be seen in furniture today. Even though there was not a single dominant style of furniture during the Victorian era, artisans, cabinetmakers, and designers drew inspiration from various iconic and historical periods including Gothic, Tudor, Elizabethan, English Rococo, and Neoclassical revivals. Gothic and Rococo were among the most popular.
The Arts and Crafts and Aesthetic movements as well as Anglo-Japanese and Art Nouveau styles have their origins in the Victorian era. Historians refer to this group collectively as Victorian decorative arts because of the excessive ornamentation, eclectic reinterpretations of history, and emerging foreign influences of eastern cultures like those of the Middle East and Asia.
Distressed White Victorian Leather Accent Chair
Victorian Burgundy/Tan Chaise Lounge
Queen Anne – cabriole legs, pad feet, walnut, oak, cherry, maple, shell and fan carvings, drop-leaf tables, curio cabinets, tilt-top and card tables
Victorian – round legs, elaborately turned legs, whorl feet (scroll-foot variation), claw-and-ball feet, oak, maple, ash, black walnut, rosewood veneer, gilding, oil varnish, foliage and scroll motifs, carving, inlay
