The Origin of Eastlake Style Furniture

Aug 7, 2011
Jennifer Wilson

Typical chairs in the Eastlake style - Photographer unknown

Common in antique stores today, 19th c. Eastlake-style furniture, originally designed in response to mass production, soon ended up being mass-produced!

"Down with pretense, sham, aesthetic quackery, up with honesty, sincerity."

- Charles Locke Eastlake, Hints on Household Taste, 1870

Origins

Some of us may be familiar with the term "Eastlake" when referring to furniture of the late Victorian era. Interestingly enough, these pieces, often referred to as in the "Eastlake" style, were never actually made by anyone named Eastlake. The originator of the style was a non-practicing British architect by the name of Charles Locke Eastlake (1836 -1906) who merely wrote about all aspects of design. If he ever actually made any furniture on his own, it has yet to be discovered.

Decrying the heavy carving and elaborate, dark, decor characterized by Victorian taste, Eastlake's views so influenced manufacturers of furniture at the time that the style has since taken his name. Likewise, in many cities across North America, there are examples of architecture, in "Gothic style" that were influenced by this same line of thought.

Characteristics

By the late 19th century, the elaborate, heavy style of Victorian taste began to give way to a desire for less embellishment in favour of a more simplistic style that would eventually lead to the Arts and Crafts Movement. Reacting to burgeoning industrialization, Eastlake, among others, was dead set against the tendency towards mass production of furniture. Seeking a return to a simpler, more handcrafted, version of design, he called for the use of more joinery and less "glued on" carving that was becoming common in the age of mass production.

In his landmark book, Hints on Household Taste (published in 1868 in London and republished in 1872 in Boston) Eastlake laid out his ideas and responded to the style of the time. He first coined the term, "Art Furniture Movement" to describe the features of his revised version. Eventually, he and a colleague, Bruce Talbert, a British furniture designer, became known as the originators of the "Modern Gothic" style – a descendant of the earlier "Neo-Gothic" style.

In response to the prior fashion of disguising cheaper woods with darker stains in an effort to imitate more highly prized versions, Eastlake called for a return to natural woods like maple, walnut, and oak along with the use of oils over stains to enhance their natural beauty. He advocated the use of simpler, more rectilinear forms, with low-relief carving over the previously heavier and more intense carving from the earlier half of the century.

He suggested that carving could be combined with inlaid, incised and pierced motifs. Many pieces in this style – notably chairs – have brass wheels attached to the front legs for easy moving. Characterized by their relative simplicity, efficient portability, along with easier cleaning of the less complex carving, these pieces were more practical as well.

Even if it does not appear all that "simple" to the modern eye, when comparing Eastlake pieces to previous furnishings of earlier Victorian times, one cannot fail to note the contrast in embellishment. Eastlake also promoted the use of more elaborate metalwork like hinges, for example. He called for stylized, geometrical motifs in a response to previous styles which he considered too "naturalistic". Rows of spindles on chair backs, aprons, and skirts promoted his ideas of lightness and simpler style.

The Outcome

The irony is that, despite Eastlake's intention to control the use of mechanization in the manufacture of quality furnishings, you can't stop progress. During the last quarter of the century, using Talbert's published designs, furniture described as being in the "Eastlake" style was soon being mass-produced - especially throughout the eastern and mid-western United States.

Sadly, much of this furniture was poor quality, only distantly resembling Eastlake's original designs and in stark contrast to their original intention. By the fourth edition of Hints on Household Taste, this was obviously such a concern for Eastlake himself that he was prompted to write in the preface;

"I find American tradesmen continually advertising what they are pleased to call 'Eastlake' furniture, with the production of which I have had nothing whatever to do, and for the taste of which I should be very sorry to be considered responsible" [C.L. Eastlake, 1878]

By 1895, the style was losing popularity but Eastlake had paved the way for subsequent designers such as Gustav Stickley and Greene and Greene as the Arts and Crafts Movement gained popularity.

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