ROCOCO Revival furniture cabriole legs
- round corners, serpentine fronts, undulating seat rails •
richly carved flowers and fruits • balloon backs on chairs - tufted upholstery • en-suite sets, including tête-à-têtes
[face-to-face love seats) and méridiennes (short sofas)
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FT)FLORID MID-VICTORIAN STYLES
GET TO KNOW ROCOCO AND RENAISSANCE, BELTER & HERTER. By Brian D. Coleman
The Victorian period lasted a long
time—Queen Victoria was the Eng-
lish monarch from 1837 to 1901—and com-
prises many different styles of architec-
ture and decoration. Still, when they hear
the word Victorian, many people think of
the carved furniture and heavily embel-
lished rooms of the mid-19th century—a
time when the Rococo and Renaissance
Revivals were in full sway.
Originating in France, what came to be
known as Rococo Revival was inspired
by the gilded elegance of Louis XIV and
Louis XV styles. Ornate and exuberant,
celebrating nature with floral and botani-
cal motifs—and a cavorting cherub or
two—Victorian Rococo stands in contrast
to the spare neoclassicism of the Greek
Revival houses and Empire furniture
that preceded it. By the 1850s, the Rococo
Revival had become synonymous with the
carved furniture of John Henry Belter.
Belter (1804–1864) was a German immi-
grant who opened a cabinet shop in New
York City in 1833. He patented processes
for laminating paper-thin sheets of brittle
rosewood with glue, steaming and press-
ing them into three-dimensional moulds
that then were carved in fine detail. This
allowed for strong furniture that still
could be mass-produced. The laminated
sheets were resistant to breakage, yet pli-
able enough to be intricately ornamented.
Although his furniture was frequently
copied by such competitors such as Alex-
ander Roux, Joseph Meeks, and Mitchell
& Rammelsberg, Belter’s work is consid-
ered the finest of the period. He typically
used six or more layers of rosewood (his
competitors used three to six), and his
carvings are finer. Belter furniture rarely
comes on the market today and, unlike
many antiques, has retained its value. A
single chair in a rare, complex pattern
may bring $20,000 or more.
By the late 1860s, after the Civil War
had ended and wealth had begun to
build again, Renaissance Revival style
had become the fashionable alternative
to Rococo. It took cues from the baronial
palaces of classical Italy; these large-scale
pieces were not so frivolous or flowery.Based on rectangular, geometric forms,
Renaissance Revival furniture was ma-
chine-made and mass-produced, but then
embellished with gilded and polychromed
cutouts and elegant, incised decorations.
Many talented shops produced Renais-
sance Revival furniture: Jelliff, Brooks,
Pabst, Kimbel and Cabus, Pottier & Sty-
mus, and Hunzinger are well known. But
it was Gustave and Christian Herter who
produced the finest and most elaborate
work. One of the first decorating firms to
open after the Civil War, Herter Brothers
operated from 1864 to 1906.
The firm custom-designed everything,
from wall and ceiling treatments, drap-
ery and portieres, to elaborate furniture.
Prominent clients included the Grant
White House, William Henry Vanderbilt,
J. Pierpont Morgan, and Jay Gould. Herter
Brothers furniture today is highly sought-
after, priced from $5,000 for a side chair
to $50,000-plus for a rare cabinet. The
Herter Brothers also produced furniture
in Neo-Grec style and, famously, in the
later Aesthetic Movement style.INTERIORS
RENAISSANCE Revival furniture
walnut, often with burled panels or ebonized • turned
and fluted legs • carved crests and finials • marquetry;
and brass or bronze mounts • parcel-gilt incised
lines and designs • silver, onyx, and marble inlaysAssociated
with early and
mid-Victorian
French
architectural
styles, Rococo
is a baroque
style with
heavy carvings
and rounded
shapes.Embellished but more
delicate than Rococo,
the immensely
popular, neoclassical
style was in vogue
from the 1850s
through the 1880s.