Furniture styles in chronological order – from Baroque to Functionalism

Swedish furniture styles in chronological order are roughly: Renaissance (16th century), Baroque (c. 1650–1720), Rococo (c. 1720–1770), Gustavian (c. 1770–1810), Karl Johan or Empire (c. 1810–1850), Historicism or the Oscarian style (c. 1850–1900), Art Nouveau (c. 1895–1915), Twenties Classicism (c. 1915–1930), Functionalism (c. 1930–1950) and the Scandinavian modernism of the 1950s and 1960s. The boundaries are fluid and styles often reached the countryside later.

Facts

Baroque and Rococo

Before the Baroque, during the 16th-century Renaissance, there was little furniture. It was often built as chests and cupboards with carved arcades, pilasters and inlay after the model of architecture, and in Sweden it survives mainly in palaces, churches and manor houses.

Baroque furniture, in Sweden during the Age of Greatness, is heavy and powerful, with turned legs, sturdy stretchers, carved acanthus leaves and high backs on the chairs. Cupboards are large and architectural. Walnut, oak and ebonised wood were common, as was inlay.

Rococo, in Sweden roughly 1740–1775, gave furniture curved cabriole legs, swelling fronts and asymmetrical shell ornament, as on a Rococo commode. Chairs became lighter and more comfortable. In England the period corresponds to Chippendale; read the guide to the Chippendale chair.

Gustavian and Karl Johan

The Gustavian style, roughly 1770–1810, straightened the legs. They became straight, tapering and fluted, and backs oval or rectangular with beading and rosettes. Colours were light, often grey and white. See a Gustavian chair and read the guide to the Gustavian style.

The Karl Johan style, roughly 1810–1850, is Swedish Empire: heavy, glossy mahogany furniture with brass mounts, columns and lion's paws, such as the Karl Johan commode. Towards the 1830s forms became softer in Biedermeier, with light woods and rounded lines.

Historicism and industry

In the second half of the 19th century, often called the Oscarian period in Sweden, older styles were copied freely: Renaissance Revival in the dining room, Rococo Revival in the drawing room, Gothic Revival in the library. Furniture was dark, richly carved and often upholstered with fringes and tassels. The style is called Historicism.

At the same time industry made furniture cheaper. Thonet's bentwood chair No. 14 of 1859 was one of the first mass-produced pieces of furniture. Read the guide to the Thonet chair.

Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts and the twenties

Around 1900 designers turned against Historicism. Arts and Crafts sought simple craftsmanship in oak, such as the Morris chair, and Art Nouveau gave furniture undulating lines and plant motifs or, with Mackintosh, tall straight backs such as the chair for the Hill House.

The 1920s brought the light Twenties Classicism, Swedish Grace, with slender legs, light woods and classical details in simplified form. Read about its counterpart in architecture in the guide to Nordic Classicism.

Functionalism, the 1950s and later

Functionalism from around 1930 removed all decoration. Furniture became simple, often in light wood, bent plywood or chromed tubular steel, such as the Wassily chair. After the war came Scandinavian modernism with teak, soft forms and classics such as Bruno Mathsson's Eva.

In the 1960s and 1970s came plastics, strong colours and round forms in the Space Age, with chairs such as the Panton chair. The Postmodernism of the 1980s played with colour and historical forms. Read the guides to Scandinavian design and Memphis.

Quick guide to dating a piece of furniture

Exercise

A chair has straight, fluted legs and beading and is painted grey. Which style is it probably?