The Regency Style 1810-1830
The Regency style , call thus by the regency (1811-1820) of prince George of Wales, later crowned like George IV, king of England (1820-1830), was mainly a delayed development of the neoclassic style. The forms were made heavier, larger and more ornamented. Often an increasing taste by the exotic Turkish, Indian and Egyptian topics was used.
Thomas Hope
Member of a rich family of Dutch bankers, Thomas Hope (1769-1831) was the main exponent of the Regency taste in England . In the 1780 decade he traveled by all Europe and Near East, and gathered a spectacular amount of Greece, Rome and Egypt antique objects. Hope wanted their furniture complemented their collection, so design silver, textiles and furniture pieces based on the classic designs. The Hope Greek chair Klismos , for example, was adapted from domestic scenes in the Greek vases and located in a decorated sculptured gallery with tapered Greek Doric columns. The simplest designs of Hope were popularized by the cabinetmaker George Smith and very copied at the beginning of 19 century.
July 17th, 2007 at 5:04 am
I have what appears to be a provincial/philly Chippendale chair. in my humble opinion looks like 1780-1830 ribbon back splat (4 bars in the horizonal style. it has an aluminum tag of a later date,with the name Westing Evans & Egmore, Philadelphia engraved.I could not find much about this firm other than they appear to have closed about 1945. Vertical line legs, leather seat, with chippendale shell bows. It is in far to good condition. Loose in the joints with the origianal finish. I am trying to track down some of the the style.
I am trying to find if it is a museum piece..if that is the case I will not do anything to it,and find where it belongs, if not I will restore it for use, but I get the feeling that it is only one survivor of a kind.
August 11th, 2007 at 10:29 pm
I am researching a Regency Convex mirror surmounted by a large eagle. I am trying to find out what the importance of the eagle is, and whether it is a symbol of the regency period? Does anyone have any information on this?
August 23rd, 2007 at 4:49 am
Hello Roxane, the answer is yes. Some popular topics of the Regency Style were: eagles, lions and gilloche.
Gilloche is an ornamental border formed of two or more curved bands that interlace to repeat a circular design.
Thanks for the comments!!