The origins of the painted wardrobe
Although painted furniture is enjoying something of a revival in its fortunes at the moment, it still represents only a small proportion of the furniture sold or in use in the UK today. A casual examination of the history of British furniture might lead to the conclusion that such has always been the case, so it may be surprising to learn that painted furniture has a long – and not insignificant – history in the UK.
The fashion for painted furniture probably coincides with the arrival of the Renaissance and Baroque styles in the Jacobean era of the 17th Century. This style was quite flamboyant following the styling of the Tudor period that had gone before. Painting furniture and painted wardrobes were possibly seen for the first time in Britain.
It might be thought that such decoration would have been frowned upon by the puritans when the English Commonwealth under Cromwell came to power some 30 years later, but the Protestant movements such as the Shakers that emigrated to America actually took examples of painted furniture with them and also made painted furniture, including painted wardrobes, after arriving in the New World.
Of course the technology of paint itself has changed considerably since the 1600s. The materials that gave the paint its colour or pigment were things such as burnt limestone (making limewash), cows’ blood and plants such as the madders plant. Today it is possible to get paint in any shade of the visible spectrum and in any level of gloss or matt finish.
Inspiration for contemporary painted furniture
When mahogany became the must-have wood finish for furniture, painted furniture continued to exist – especially if you include Chinese or Japanese lacquer work within the definition – but it was in places such as the kitchens of large houses. Painted wardrobes became rare items indeed. It might even be suggested that this was the inspiration for contemporary styles of painted furniture, as Georgian and Victorian kitchen furniture used functional, plain styling and was typically painted in light white, off-white, ivory or cream colours.
Contrast this with the traditional or shabby chic school of painted furniture and painted wardrobes. Many of the original antique versions of these have come from France, hence the other name of French-style. The tradition of painting furniture was, as in Britain, inspired by the designs of the Renaissance. On the Continent, the influence of this style seems to have been much stronger and to have lasted much longer. Poorer people emulated the intricate and extravagant styles with clever use of paint. Originally these items of painted furniture would have been flawless, in an attempt to produce a low-cost version of Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo or Louis XIV styling. As the years of use took their toll however, the decoration and paintwork would have been subject to the inevitable knocks, scratches and general wear to which any item in frequent use is subjected.
The sixties, taxation and the birth of shabby chic
The slightly scruffy, down-at-heel look was not generally appreciated until approximately the 1970s in Britain. Since the 1960s, changes in the taxation laws of the UK meant that owners of grand country houses found their properties were an increasing financial burden. Many were gifted to the nation through organisations such as the National Trust, while others remaining in private ownership tended to quietly deteriorate.
It then became very fashionable to have an interior that spoke of past glories and great elegance but was now rather worn and faded – this was the birth of shabby chic. In the 1980s it was also a counter to the brash extravagances of ‘new money’ with its only the best, have-it-now culture. Genuine faded antiques and painted wardrobes could not supply the growing demand, so painted furniture was imported from the Continent and an industry was founded on producing new furniture that had many of the style attributes of the faded elegant, shabby chic furniture.