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Victorian Furniture of the Middle Class
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Recommended: Upper class in the Victorian era
Victorian Furniture of the Middle Class
According to the Middle Class Victorians, less was definitely not more. In fact, in the case of the Victorians, the more ostentatious and packed a house was, the higher the status of that family. A house in the Victorian Era would most likely be cluttered until nothing else could fit. Not only was there clutter, but the rooms were "quite dark with busily patterned wallpaper (Victorian Home Life Changes)" and lots of gold garnishments.
Fashions of Furniture and Their Influences
Beginning in the 1830's, the first influences of Victorian furniture were from the English architect, Augustus Pugin. These were of the "Neo-gothic Design (Sometimes More is More)" characterized by dark woods, pointed arches, trefoils and other Gothic cathedral carvings. By incorporating previous influences from cathedrals, furniture represented morality in the Victorians lives (Sometimes More is More). A trefoil looks like a three-leaf clover and is found in wooden furniture.
By the 1850's, a new inspiration came from the "Rococo Revival." This was a more "romantic form (Sometimes More is More). " It was characterized by "swirling lines, natural motifs like fruit and flowers, and dark woods like mahogany, rosewood and black walnut (Sometimes More is More)." The design came from France and included the use of not so dark wood and looked more natural. The Rococo Revival ended around 1870.
Meanwhile, during that time period, around 1860 until 1880, the Renaissance Revival took place. Instead of having expensive, richly made furniture, the Victorians merely began placing expensive additions to inexpensive, poorly made furniture.
During the 1850s, mass production of carpeting took place as well as patterned wallpaper (Sometimes More is More.) This allowed the Victorians to decorate their houses with even more colors and clutter.
Who Decorated the House and What Were Some Typical Pieces of Furniture
Overstuffed divans and couches were a staple in most middle class houses (Furniture).