Eastlake movement
The Eastlake movement was a nineteenth-century architectural and household design reform movement started by British architect and writer Charles Eastlake (1836–1906). The movement is generally considered part of the late Victorian period in terms of broad antique furniture designations. In architecture the Eastlake style or Eastlake architecture is part of the Queen Anne style of Victorian architecture.
Eastlake's book Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery, and Other Details posited that furniture and decor in people's homes should be made by hand or machine workers who took personal pride in their work. Manufacturers in the United States used the drawings and ideas in the book to create mass-produced Eastlake Style or Cottage furniture.
The geometric ornaments, spindles, low relief carvings, and incised lines were designed to be affordable and easy to clean;[1] nevertheless, many of the designs which resulted are artistically complex.
Although Charles Eastlake did not make furniture, his movement influenced the interior design of American homes with English designs that were easy to clean, functional, and simple. The ‘Eastlake’ style is of Victorian architecture and one of the core principles of this style was that Eastlake thought that the furniture in people's homes should be good looking and be made by manufacturers who enjoyed their work.[1] This was contrary to the previous style of furniture, with pieces that were large, heavy, and thick, and that collected dust and germs.[2]
Eastlake movement was named after the English architect Charles Locke Eastlake (nephew of Sir Charles Lock Eastlake) following the release of his influential book Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery and Other Details.[3] Eastlake was originally a painter who trained in Rome and was considered to have great knowledge in art however he had a specific preference.[4]
In Hints on Household Taste in Furniture, Upholstery and Other Details, Eastlake promoted Victorian style furniture which had opposed the curved features of the French Baroque Revival Styles. Instead, Eastlake style had "angular, notched and carved" features and although he did not produce any furniture himself, cabinet makers produced them.[5] His book influenced custom designers as well as machine-made manufacturers who Eastlake abhorred. His quote "I find American tradesmen continually advertising what they are pleased to call Eastlake furniture, the production of which I have had nothing whatever to do, and for the taste of which I should be very sorry to be considered responsible" shows his stance on this.[5]
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