The Georgian period and Chippendale

Mahogany, pattern books and a mix of French Rococo, Gothic and the Chinese taste.

When George I became king in 1714 the Georgian period began. Mahogany from the West Indies replaced walnut as the fine furniture wood, and London's cabinetmakers made chairs, cabinets and tables of high quality for a growing upper class.

Thomas Chippendale's Director of 1754 gathered furniture in the French Rococo, Gothic and Chinese styles. The book spread to cabinetmakers throughout Britain and the colonies, and the name Chippendale became a style.