| Many interior designers and home decorating experts | | | | Boston, Philadelphia and Baltimore. It offered people an |
| are very fond of designing rooms with antique Queen | | | | elegant, inviting and comfortable furniture and became |
| Anne furniture...it actually may be one of the most | | | | the style of choice among home owners...that is where |
| highly preferred styles when they recommend that | | | | some the first and most valuable "American Period |
| their clients buy antique furniture. The style is | | | | Queen Anne" furniture pieces originated. It continues to |
| considered to be one of the most welcoming for use | | | | provide it's owners with the intrinsic beauty, sincerity of |
| in the dining room and living room and a Queen Anne | | | | workmanship and the elegance of some of the true |
| style bed or dressing table lends beauty and a graceful | | | | masterpieces of fine furniture. |
| charm to a bedroom setting. | | | | The most defining elements of Queen Anne furniture |
| The evolution of the style began in England during the | | | | are the cabriole leg and the carved shell. Cabriole legs |
| reign of Queen Anne 1702-1714, when the country was | | | | are ancient in origin, based on the leg of an animal |
| just breaking away from the Middle Ages. Furniture | | | | from the knee down. It's form is graceful and curving |
| styles in England were transitioning from the heavier | | | | with a knee that curves out and an ankle that curves |
| more bulky 17th Century William and Mary and Tudor | | | | in. The shell motif also emphasizes the curvilinear form |
| styles and became lighter and more graceful in | | | | and was frequently used on the front of a highboy, |
| appearance. The trend gained popularity in America | | | | chest or lowboy and occasionally a smaller version of |
| with the early colonists around 1720 as they developed | | | | it was used on the knee of a table or chair leg. It was |
| trade with other countries and a desire for worldly | | | | also depicted as a fan or sunburst on some pieces. |
| goods. It continued as a very important furniture period | | | | Before you buy antique furniture, learn all you can |
| through 1750 in America and is still a highly desirable | | | | about the many styles and periods associated with it. |
| genuine antique and reproduction furniture style today. | | | | See below for links to a couple of terrific resources |
| The Queen Anne furniture style dominated home | | | | and enjoy your journey through the magical world of |
| furnishing preferences in the cultural taste centers of | | | | antiques! |